New Parasound processors/receivers on their way

[Chris D]

I can release this now, and I'd say it's banana worthy. :banana:

Parasound is developing three new home theater processors, all anticipated to release sometime after the New Year. One will be a pre/pro controller in the Halo line, one will be a pre/pro controller in the New Classic line, and one will actually be a receiver, with onboard amplifiers. The Halo and NC models will be fairly similar in features, like the C1/C2 and 7100 were to each other, with the Halo staying as the flagship, high-end model with things like balanced connectors and industrial design.

It looks like these units will have onboard HDMI switching and decoding capability, in general bringing the Parasound lineup up to date with current available features in the market. What exact features and specs that entails remains to be seen.

Expect more information from Parasound in September, right around the CEDIA time. I expect that we'll see actual prototype models at CEDIA, and of course I will take pictures and bring back any information that I can at that time. Let's hope that pricing stays with the Parasound trend of bringing incredible performance for the price point, centered around the high end of consumer pricing, or the lower end of boutique pricing. I'm not anticipating anything extravagant. (as far as pricing)

[Hdale85]

Guessing these will probably be priced up there with Denon's pre/pro and what not sadly out of my price bracket

[Chris D]

Well, I was interested to see Denon's price point on their new pre-pro. It's a monster, but it also has an MSRP of $7,500. That's 25% more than Parasound's current flagship Halo model, quite high-end, in the C1 at $6,000. (and the same model without the screen, one component input, and different power source with the C2 is MUCH less at $4,000) We'll see whether the new Parasound features add more cost to the models, or whether cheaper processors today lower the overall unit cost, or whether they just cancel each other out.

[Hdale85]

If it has HDMI 1.3 and all that I'm going to say its probably going to be more then current Pre/Pro's also with how crappy our dollar is right now probably drive costs up a bit as well.

[Loffen]

Any one out there that wants to buy a brand new Lexicon MC 12 HD eq balanced unit :??

I guess there will be some pictures soon :W

And what about the D3 ? when will we see a BD player ?

[Peter Nielsen]

It would not surprise me the least if we see a BD player in a D3 chassis at the same time the new processors are introduced. The recent $999 sellout of the D3 sure indicates that something major is going on...

Peter

[Loffen]

I will bet a large amount of bananas that you are right on the spot on that one ;-)

[Chris D]

A banana bet? Okay, you're on! I'm personally guessing we won't see a BD product from Parasound for at least another year, if not more, just based on Richard Schram's initial response to the idea.

[Hdale85]

There are some awesome BD products out there right now and a few that are coming out very soon. So unless your just Parasound happy you should easily be able to find something out there that will suit your needs

[Loffen]

Okey Chris, so mr Schram does not like BD...
You are still up on the bet however, and you will of course come to my place and pick them up if you win, Right ? :P

Dougie , Yes I am a Parasound guy up to my neck and I would really like to fill up my rack with parasound stuff,but when they dont have what I need I will have to go elsewhere...

So from who should I buy my BD player ?

[Hdale85]

Well if you absolutely don't want a PS3 (I was kind of against getting one before but I'll tell you its an awesome BD player) then there is a new Sony coming out the 550 which looks quite nice. If you want to spend more money then that there is the Denon and the Pioneer Elite but I think they are Ver 1.1 so they don't have all the nifty features of BD 2.0 which the new Sony will have.

[Loffen]

Thanks Dougie

But I was thinking of something more high end

I have a PS3 and a couple of 360`s with HD drive (format war and so on)
And yes both Denon and Pioneer are good players,but I do not think that they are High end stuff,I will check out the new Sony as soon as I can get my hands on it.
I am hoping to find a universal player that would be great on CDs and BD discs just to save some rack space

[Peter Nielsen]

If the new Parasound processor has HDMI inputs, you could for instance get the Denon DVD-2500 transport (only HDMI out, nothing else. The processor must do all the work). This is the route I'm taking when the new TacT TCS is out and when I can get hold of a DVD-2500 in silver color...

Peter

[Hdale85]

Yeah if you get the new Parasound pre and it has good DAC's and stuff and you use a digital output of the BD player (HDMI or what not) then the internal DAC's should be doing the work and there for the BD player should make little to no difference. So just like Peter said your processor would do all the work

[Loffen]

You are right guys, but the problem know is that I bought the Lexicon and would need a BD player with inboard decoding of the "new" HD sound formats.

[Hdale85]

Hmm.... Audiogon? :B

[Peter Nielsen]

You are right guys, but the problem know is that I bought the Lexicon and would need a BD player with inboard decoding of the "new" HD sound formats.

FWIW, the Denon DVD-3800 is the same as the 2500, but with built in decoders for audio and video.

Peter

[Q-Man]

This is good news.
I've been reading up on a few other brands, and getting ready to sell my C1. It takes Parasound so long to keep up with the Jones.
I may now wait to see what they bring to the table. After all, I do like the sound of the C1 and I use those extra channels.
Q.

[Chris D]

Oh, and the new Halo processor will be called the "C3".

[Chris D]

One thing I find interesting is the nomenclature of the "C3". Originally, it looked like nomenclature of the Halo line, for processors, was that "x1" was the high end model, "x2" the next step down, and "x3" the next step down from that. Case in point, the C1 was the flagship, then the C2, and then the P3 pre-amp as a 2-channel unit. For amps, it was "Axy", where "x" was the number of channels, and "y" was the class tier, i.e., the A21 was the 1st class 2-channel amp, and the A52 was the 2nd tier 5-channel amp. Devices so far have been "3", i.e. the T3 and P3. "JC" tier stuff has been the elite, and the ubiquitous P7 has been the anomaly.

So, we have to wonder if the C3 will really be the new flagship, surpassing and/or replacing the C1. I guess they couldn't call it the "C-One-Half" or "C-Zero", but if it's the other way, making this a 3rd-tier processor on par with the P3 would be a bit disappointing.

[sikoniko]

I would be surprised to see high-end companies release a BD player at this point. The $1.5M licensing fee is pretty intimidating to most companies...

[Loffen]

Oh, and the new Halo processor will be called the "C3".

And the specs are...

Give it to us Chris 8O

[Loffen]

I would be surprised to see high-end companies release a BD player at this point. The $1.5M licensing fee is pretty intimidating to most companies...

Wow ! :E

[Chris D]

And the specs are...

Give it to us Chris 8O

Ah, believe me, you fellas will get them just a few minutes after I do!

I'm guessing that I'll be learning the specs at CEDIA, first week in September, and will post for you guys the night after I see them.

[Chris D]

Okay, I still don't have any specs, but I can say that I'm hearing and seeing some rumblings about the new models. So far, it looks promising, so I think we'll be happy at CEDIA.

[Vince Helm]

Boy would I like to see Parasound incorporate the IPod touch as the remote with two way communication!!
Vince

[jprafter]

Both Denon Blu Ray offerings are already dated, they are not Blu Ray spec. 2.0 compliant, however they are PIP ready. The PS3 has stayed current and is still a best buy until the dust settles, however no 5.1 or 7.1 analog output.

I really hope this "C3" is real, I really want to upgrade my C2 and get HDMI audio processing. :T

[Chris D]

Oh, believe me, the C3 is real.

Since you bring up Blu-Ray again, I've pinged Parasound again about BD. Response was actually very favorable towards developing a Parasound BD player, but it won't be for some time.

See the new thread for info on the new P7 coming out.

[jprafter]

That's good to hear, then much more real then the hardware upgrade for my C2!

I'm glad the P7 finally came out, I was interested in this a long time ago, before I bought the Zektor. I'll have to check it out. Maybe Parasound finally woke up again.

I was so close to doing something like you did with the Denon receiver, with an Onkyo. Just was killing me to spend the money on a temporary solution. I guess if I've waited this long I can go till September to see what they will offer.

Thanks for the updates Chris.

[Chris D]

jp, I'm still glad that I've been using the Denon receiver as a HDMI audio decoder. I will have gotten great full HD sound for about a year and a half before the C3 is available for us to buy, and if I do the C3, then I'm just going to slide the Denon over to run the living room zone of my house and get HD audio there, too. Now, if I had no use for it other than the temporary solution, then that would be another thing.

[brodricj]

To my way of thinking the no brainer solution of extending the life of C1/C2 was for Parasound to build a Halo version of Zhd, and have it interface to the C1/C2 over the serial port, and have a 2nd port (or ethernet) for interface to Halo setup or 3rd party control devices (eg Pronto Pro). Halo Zhd could do the HDMI switching and have on-board latest gen audio decoding and send this to the 7.1 ext inputs of the C1/C2. They could devote some resources to developing a module for Pronto (to replace the OEM remote) so that you have a complete up-date solution for present C1/C2 owners, at minimal cost.

I virtually begged RS to do this about 2 years ago but he seemed cold on the idea. I'm guessing reason being there's more money to be made in selling a new pre-pro design than extending the life of existing product.

It would be such a shame to retire my C2 just because it can't decode the latest hi-rez uncompressed sound formats. It's a great AV processor. It's just unfortunate that the promised upgrade path for it never eventuated.

[Chris D]

Hey, brojricj, welcome the the Guide and Club Parasound! :banana:

Yeah, I advocated pretty much the same thing, too. Unfortunately, one of the problems was having the bandwith to send high-res audio from an outboard decoder (like this Halo Zhd you propose) over a cable to the processor. The existing RS-232 does not have sufficient bandwith. There were other limitations, too.